The Las Vegas Raiders elected to move on from Antonio Pierce on Tuesday after a 4-13 2024 campaign, ending the Pierce era with a .346% win-percentage. That’s an even lower percentage than the .360% of contests Josh McDaniels claimed victory in.
Raiders controlling-owner Mark Davis didn’t stop at Pierce, either. Two days later, on Thursday, the organization announced they were parting ways with first-year Sin City general manager Tom Telesco.
Telesco, to his credit, was responsible for a multitude of franchise-altering moves in one year’s time. Beyond adding premier free agent Christian Wilkins through the NFL’s free agency period, Telesco welcomed rookies Brock Bowers, Jackson Powers-Johnson and D.J. Glaze through the 2024 NFL Draft.
Powers-Johnson was the seventh-highest graded center league-wide from Week 9 onward, D.J. Glaze held sack-master T.J. Watt to zero pressures during the team’s meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Brock Bowers rewrote the NFL’s rookie record-books.
And then there’s K’Lavon Chaisson.
Despite what Telesco did do, however, it’s impossible to ignore the one thing he did not do: get the Las Vegas Raiders a viable starting quarterback.
There are many reasons that likely contributed to why this is. For starters, now-former head coach Antonio Pierce was positive Aidan O’Connell was the answer under center.
“Whatever happens and whatever we do, it has to go through Aidan O’Connell. Being honest with you, he’s earned that right,” Pierce noted back in March, prior to the annual NFL Draft.
A large part of a general manager’s job is working hand-and-hand with their head coach. Your head coach tells you their vision, and you, as a general manager, help make that possible.
Beyond that, the Raiders had the 13th-overall pick last draft. Six quarterbacks were selected before they were on the clock, leaving the team with no other options.
A new era for the Las Vegas Raiders
In any case, Tom Telesco now finds himself out of a job in Sin City. Perhaps it’s due to him not getting the Raiders a new signal caller, or maybe minority owner Tom Brady, who will be heavily involved in the team’s head coach search, also has his own ideas for general manager.
The search is on for not only a new head coach, but a new general manager as well–it’s [another] new era for the Raiders.
When Mark Davis was in the market for a new regime just one year ago, he noted that he’d like to hire a general manager prior to selecting a head coach. This is because the head of the front office is typically responsible for the head coach hiring, selecting who they feel would make the best partner.
However, each and every general manager Davis interviewed claimed they’d hire Antonio Pierce as their head coach. With that in mind, Davis awarded Pierce the job prior to making any other decisions.
Now that there’s no interim lying in wait in Las Vegas, it’s most reasonable to conclude a general manager will come first this time, followed by a head coach.
If that is indeed the case, Davis – and Brady – must reach a decision in a timely manner before head coach candidates such as Ben Johnson, for example, agree to jobs elsewhere.
Stay tuned, Raider Nation.
*Top Photo: Getty Images
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